In Loving Arms
by On The Edge of Glory
Summary: "You ain't gotta run anymore. Just stay."-Merle, "Don't compare me to him because I ain't him and I ain't gotta hurt you."-Daryl, "Rules are meant to be broken."-Hunter, "I never needed anyone. But I come to find that I can't live without you, darling."-Bow. DarylxCarol, MerlexOC(Alex Montgomery), SophiaxOC(Hunter Dixon), AndreaxOC(Bo Dixon). Full Summary Inside. R&R
1. Trouble

Full Summary: Alex Montgomery has been running her whole life. Now that the world is over she is still running. But this time she is running straight into Merle Dixon's arms. "You ain't gotta run anymore. Just stay."-Merle

Carol Peletier has never experienced real love or affection. All her life she has lived an abusive life. But now with the world over, she may finally find the love she has been searching for from a rough redneck named Daryl Dixon. "Don't compare me to him because I ain't him and I ain't gotta hurt you."-Daryl

Sophia Peletier has never been allowed to live her own life without the worry about being hurt for making the wrong decisions. When she meets Hunter Dixon, a boy who is more rebellious and reckless than anyone she has ever met before, he encourages to live life to the fullest and be who she wants to be. "Rules are meant to be broken."-Hunter

Andrea Harrison has always been the second choice. She has never been anyone's first choice. She was never truly wanted nor needed. Not until Bow Dixon entered her life. He wants and needs her, something that scares the both of them. "I never needed anyone. But I come to find that I can't live without you, darling."-Bow

* * *

AN: This will follow season 1 and 2, but with some of my own things added and changed. After season 2 it will not follow the show. In this Daryl and Merle have a brother, middle brother, and Merle will also have a son, Hunter. Sophia and Carl will be sixteen and not eleven, or twelve, however old they were in season one. Now for the story.

* * *

Chapter One-

The trees were beginning to blur and spots of black were beginning to seep in. Her head felt heavy, almost as if it was to heavy for her shoulders to bear. Her eyes were just as heavy. They kept wanting to shut, to give into the darkness, but she refused to let them. She pushed forward, her limbs shaking from the energy it was burning. She hadn't eaten in days and the lack of food was beginning to hit her hard. She can't even remember when the last time she had any water in her was. She almost was beginning to look and smell like a walker now. She had dirt all over her, her hair was a tangled mess, and her clothes were torn. She had nothing, but the clothes on her back. She can't remember how long she has run, but she doesn't stop, too afraid of what's behind her. Blood seeps through her fingers that rest on her stomach. Her breath comes in short pants as she presses her unoccupied hand to a tree, trying to get back some much-needed air and energy. Her body trembled under the stress she was pushing it through. But she knew if she stopped now then she would never get back up and if she gave into the darkness then she'll never wake back up.

With another huff, she pushes off the tree and returns to running, but her energy wasn't up anymore and she was beginning to sway as she walked. "Shit." She curses as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop herself from seeing double. She heard a noise to her right, causing her to take a deep breath and pull out her hunting knife, it was the only weapon of defense that she had on her. She turned, maybe too quickly, and almost goes tumbling down. "Shit." She pants as she clung to a tree, trying to keep herself upright.

"Hey, are you okay?" She looked up and saw a man standing there. He was rugged looking. Tall, muscular, and rough. He had buzzed hair that looks to be chestnut colored and his eyes looked like cobalt. The man is dressed in a pair of jeans, a plain muscle shirt, and boots that looked like they could break your face in. He had a crossbow in one hand and a string of what appears to be squirrels in the other. "Hey, lady. Aw, shit." She fell to the ground, the darkness consuming her.

* * *

Bow Dixon looks down at the woman with a huff. "I just need you to go check the traps, maybe shoot a few squirrels, it ain't nothing." His voice goes into a high pitch, obviously trying to imitate someone. "Yeah, well, baby brother, this sure as hell won't be easy." Bow kneels down by the woman and pulls back her tank top. The woman looked like she has been through hell. Dressed in nothing, but a pair of shorts, a tank top, and barefooted, it appears as if she just ran without bothering putting her shoes on. Her pale skin was covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime. Her dark red hair was a rat's nest and looked like it hadn't been washed in a while. Her emerald eyes had been bloodshot before she fainted. She looked young, but that may have to do with her chubby cheeks, her pouty lips, and big baby doll eyes. She has a small oval-shaped head, all of her was small. She couldn't be more than five feet tall and she is very thin like she hadn't eaten in days. She was more than half the size of Bow and she looked as if she has been through hell.

As Bow looked under the tank top he saw that she had whole gone straight through, which he can only assume is a bullet hole with the way it looked. "Damn girl, what the hell did y'all get yourself into?" Bow looks around, trying to figure out what he should do, but there was only one option and he really hated it. "We're a mile from camp and it appears I'm packing you." He huffed and put the strap of his crossbow over his head, causing the crossbow to rest on his back. He moved his arms under her legs and under her head before lifting her with a grunt. "For a small fry, you sure are heavy." He carried her through the woods, humming under his breath. "I don't the boys will be too thrilled with this. Bringing in some young thing with a bullet wound. Best hurry too if I want to bring you back alive."

* * *

The camp was alive with chatter from the gossiping women and the time-wasting men. Merle spits to the side as he looked around. It was like this every day. The woman would do the cooking and the cleaning, but spend most of it just talking and having a good time like the world hasn't ended. Merle could deal with the woman chatting away because it made them relax and be happy. It made them not worry and become frightful of every little thing, so Merle could tolerate the chatting. What he could not tolerate were the men that made a big show of doing something, but spending hours doing it because they like to waste as much as they could. Dale was supposed to be fixing the RV, but he'd been fixing that since they first showed up in camp weeks ago and yet it is still 'broken'. Shane was supposed to be getting the water for them to boil, but that was this morning and now it was late afternoon. It only took two hours to get the water, at the most. T-Dog had been chopping wood for the past two hours and the pile wasn't getting any bigger. All of them wasted more time standing around and staring off at the scenery or talking to others that by the time they finish the Dixons have already done ten times their work. Daryl had finished cleaning and dressing his kills. Daryl had finished reorganizing the tent. Daryl got wood for their campfire. Daryl cleaned his bow. Merle cleaned out the firepit, cleaned his guns and knives, finishing cleaning and dressing his kills, got their water for the day, and even had time to bathe and smoke.

It was pathetic how long it took them to do things. He hated procrastinators. If you got shit to do then do it, don't waste time thinking about it. Merle shakes his head and spits again before looking out at the woods. Bow's been gone for a while now. He didn't know how far he went to check those traps, but he should have been back by now. Merle frowns as he looked around the camp. Daryl was off cleaning up, while Hunter... Merle's frowns grows. Hunter was M.I.A. "Goddamn it kid." Merle growls as he stands up, his eyes searching for the sixteen-year-old. He knew Hunter could take care of himself, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the kid likes to stir shit up and cause problems. He took after his old man in that way. Loved to antagonize people and if a fight broke out you didn't have to guess who'd be right there in the midst of it. Hunter loved fighting, loved pissing people off. The kid thinks because he's taller than most kids his age and bigger, he thought he was unstoppable and it was going to get him killed. He was reckless and arrogant and Merle knew one day Hunter would lose.

As Merle scans the area for Hunter he finds Daryl walking back up the road with Hunter by the neck. "Come on, Daryl, I was only kidding." Merle could already hear the teen. His chestnut hair falling into his face, hiding his mischief blue eyes.

"I'm sure your dad won't be seeing it that way." Daryl response back before walking towards Merle.

"What did you go and do now?" Merle asks, annoyance and a hint of anger settling in his words.

"I ain't done nothing wrong." Daryl pushes Hunter, causing the teen to slam into his father.

"He was about to whip his dick out right in front of the women before I got a hold of him."

"I was only kidding." Daryl narrows his eyes at the boy as Merle tried not to laugh. The problem with disciplining Hunter was that he was too much like his father. Merle was in no way shy. He said what he thought and did what he wanted. Merle's sure with the right situation that he would have whipped his dick out in front of a group women too.

"Do I even want to know why?" Merle asks with a huff.

"Carol said she would wash my jeans for me, so I said go ahead."

"And so you started undressing."

"It was a joke. I wasn't really going to." Merle raises an eyebrow.

"That, I highly doubt." Merle says before eyeing his son over.

"When Bow gets back you're dressing and cleaning those kills. You're also going to help blonde hype chick pick mushrooms."

"Amy?" Hunter looked horrified. "But... But... Amy..." Amy was the younger sister to Andrea. Many thought Amy was the better of the two, but Hunter was quick to find out it was not true. Amy was manipulative, selfish, and a total bitch when she wanted to be. The last time Hunter went out in the woods her she practically ripped his jeans off him to give him a blow job. Hunter wouldn't have mind that, but he hated aggressive girls who won't take no for an answer, the only thing that makes him different from his father. He likes submissive, shy, quiet girls and Amy was way too much like Hunter's mother for him to appreciate the offer of getting him off. "She practically raped me last time." Daryl snorts as he takes a seat as Merle grins.

"Take care of Bow's kills, mushroom hunt with the blonde sister, and..." Merle looks around for ideas before smirking. "Help the old man out on his RV and help deputy dick lips with that stupid radio."

"Are you for fucken real?"

"Watch boy." Merle snaps. "You don't talk back to your father. Next time you want to show that baby dick of yours off to women do it when Daryl nor I are around."

"First off, fuck you. Second of all, my dick is huge. Thirdly, go fuck yourself." Merle slaps Hunter in the back of the head, causing him to stumble. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, he'd never actually hurt his son, but it was enough to get Hunter to shut up.

"Get to fucken work with Amy, kid. When your uncle gets back you're cleaning and dressing." Hunter glares before turning and storming off. Daryl chuckles and pulls out his knives to clean. "Got something to say?" Daryl glances up at Merle and manages a small smile.

"You're good with him, but we both know you'd drop them too." Merle grins.

"Don't we know it."

"Merle, Daryl, need a little help over here." Both the brothers turn to see Bow rushing out with an unconscious girl in his arms. "She's been shot."


	2. Trained in the Art of Confidence

"Hand me that hydrogen peroxide." Bow demands from Shane as he gathers the thread and needle he needs to stitch her up. Shane hands it over and Bow pours into the wound before wiping the liquid away to keep the skin dry. "Carol, you have the steadiest hands, thread the needle." Carol does as ordered and hand it over to Bow. They have the woman laying down on the table of the picknick table, which the Dixons made a few weeks ago. It was the best place for her. It was long enough, didn't need to worry about dirtying it, and it was sturdy and flat enough for her to lay without Bow worrying about her moving.

Once Carol threaded the needle, Bow begins to stitch her up. "How do you know how to do all this?" Andrea asks as she looks at Bow. Bow lifts his blue eyes from the stomach of the woman to look at the blonde.

"Was a medic in the military." He said before looking back down and continued to stitch her closed. "She lost a lot of blood, but we don't know her blood type and we ain't got the equipment to fix it, so we just got to close her up and hope for the best."

"Where did you find her anyways?" Shane's voice and face hold accusations that makes Merle want to punch the officer in the face.

"Found her stumbling through the woods."

"Where are her shoes?" Lori asks, causing Bow to fight the erg to snap at her.

"She's been shot, it's pretty clear that she went through some shit. Probably didn't bother putting her shoes on." Bow knew this girl was attacked and that she was running. It's quite clear that she didn't take the time to get on a pair of shoes when she was shot. Lori makes a face and crosses her bony arms over her flat chest.

"Well, I'm just saying, how could she run through the woods with no shoes."

"Roll her over." Bow commands, causing Merle and Shane to move and roll the girl over. Bow looks at Lori once more. "The girl was shot, I'm sure she'd be dead if she took the time to put on shoes. She ran barefoot through those woods because her life depended on it. That's how she managed to run through the woods with no shoes." His words are sharp enough to cause Lori to flinch, but the scowl is still in place. "Now shut the fuck up and let me work before this girl bleeds out even more." He throws her a hard look before looking towards his nephew. "Hand me that peroxide again." Hunter hands it over and Bow pours some more on the wound before he stitches up that side. "We're gonna need bandages." Andrea runs ahead to the rv to get some as Bow finishes up.

"How long do you think she'll be out?" Dale asks as he looks at the wound.

"Hard to say. A wound like this with that much blood loss... it could be a day, maybe more. That is if she survives." Shane's gaze hardens.

"If she doesn't you just wasted our resources. Plus we don't know this girl. She could be a threat to us. She isn't our responsibility." Bow looks at Shane with a heavy glare.

"This." Bow holds up the thread. "Is mine. Those are mine." He points to his needle, scissors, and peroxide. "The only thing here that ain't mine is the bandages that the blonde is getting. The rest is mine." He says as he finishes the stitches and cuts the thread. "I was just kind enough to share. So get off your goddamn high horse. She ain't your responsibility deputy dick lips. I brought her back, so she'll be my responsibility if it's that big of a problem. Now go ahead and run long. I'm sure you have to go jerk off now." Shane's face turns red from both anger and embarrassment, but he knew better than to continue this fight.

"She's your problem, Dixon." Shane turns and storms off, causing Bow to roll his eyes.

"Here." Bow glances up to see Andrea standing there with the bandages in her hand. Everyone had quickly scurried off when they saw bow's glare, so now the only people left standing by the girl are the Dixons and Andrea.

"Thanks." Bow takes it, his hand skimming hers, causing a heated blush to come across her face before she turns and hurries off. Bow snorts before going and covering the girl's wounds.

"She's kind of hot. A bit dirty and smells pretty awful, but she's sure hot." Daryl, Merle, and Bow look at Hunter as he said that.

"Let's go kid, you have work to do." Merle says before grabbing Hunter by the ear and leading him off.

"Ow, ow, dad, dad. Ow, come on, seriously?" Bow chuckles and looks over at Daryl.

"What'd he go and do now?"

"Tried to whip his dick out in front of the women." Bow shook his head as a laugh erupts from him.

"The boy is something else."

"If that girl was running from someone, maybe one of us should keep an eye on her until she wakes up. She doesn't know any of us. She might not trust us." Daryl says, causing Bow to nod.

"Was thinking the same thing. I also thought we should see if deputy cocksucker got those handcuffs. Don't need her trying to kill us before we can explain that we've saved her life."

"Rather not get him involved..." Daryl sighs as he sees Bow's look. "I'll go get 'm."

"Good baby brother." Daryl flips Bow off before strutting off. Bow huffs and looks down at the girl. "Who are you?"

* * *

Sophia sits on a large boulder by the creek. She watches as Carol, Eliza, and Louis play in the water. They looked like they were having the time of their lives with swimming and splashing one another. They had called her to join them several times, but Ed was on watch and Sophia knew he'd see her if she joined. Ed didn't like her and her mother showing any skin. Her mother dressed in things grandmothers would wear. The clothes were shapeless and baggy and did nothing for her. Sophia's clothes were just as baggy and shapeless, but at least hers didn't look like she got them from her grandmother's closet. She hated how Ed controlled them. Forced them to wear ugly clothes. Didn't allow her to play with the other kids or let her mother have fun with the other women. Ed ruled them both and Sophia hated it.

"You ain't joining them?" Sophia turns her head to watch Hunter Dixon stroll on over to her boulder where she sat with her knees to her chest.

"No." Hunter shrugs before pulling his wife beater over his head. "W-What are you doing?" Sophia stutters as Hunter kicks his boots off.

"Going for a swim. What does it look like? It's hot out." Carl was shirtless, but seeing Hunter shirtless was different. Carl was thin and weak, but Hunter had muscles, abs, chest hair! Hunter wasn't a kid. He was becoming a man, while Carl was still a kid. Hunter hit puberty hard, but with no acne, unlike Carl who only got the acne. Sophia almost losses it when Hunter pulls his jeans off for the second time today. But when she glances over she turns pink and her jaw drops. Hunter was not wearing any underwear.

"A-are you going s-swimming na-naked?" Hunter turned and Sophia's face grew redder. Her eyes taking him in. He was just how she imagined. Thick muscular arms, a toned six pack of abs, strong legs, nice looking ass, dark curly hair over his chest and... Sophia gulps. He was big for someone his age and it appeared if he didn't give a shit about shaving down there like some men did. He let it run wild in the dark curly hair.

"Like what you see?" Sophia's face only got redder. "How about you come join me, sweetheart." Most girls Sophia's age would either join him or refuse and call him something, but no, like with everything Sophia wasn't normal. She could have hit herself for how she reacted. She grabs her things and practically ran out of there. "Or not..." Was the last thing she heard Hunter say before disappearing around the bend. Her heart was racing in her chest, her hands were shaking, and her breaths were heavy. She just saw Hunter Dixon naked, completely naked, as naked as the day he was born.

Sophia gulps before starting up the hill. "Sophia, are you okay, you look flushed." Sophia practically jumped out of her skin as she heard her mother.

"Must be the heat." Sophia manages to say, but her words are a bit rough.

"Why don't you drink some water and sit in the shade." Carol says as she goes to get some, but Sophia stops her.

"I think I'm just going to go lay down."

"Oh, okay. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yup, completely okay." Sophia squeaks before rushing into the tent. Her heart is still pounding and the image of Hunter naked is engraved in her mind. How can anyone be so okay with being naked in front of people? It's insane. He didn't even look embarrassed. He looked as arrogant as usual, although he did catching her ogling him, so that may have put his arrogance up a few notches. Sophia falls back on her sleeping bed and stares up at her tent's roof. Although, any teenager who looked like that would be arrogant too because he defiantly backed it up. "Shit." Sophia curses as she closes her eyes. "I'm never going to unsee that." Sophia bites her lips as heat fills her belly. "Stop thinking about it." She snaps before running a hand through her hair.

She closes her eyes as she imagines Hunter running his calloused hands through it. His body pressed against hers. Sophia sighs as she runs a hand down her body, imagining they are Hunter's hands. "Sophia, would you mind grabbing the dirty clothes from in there." Sophia's eyes snap open and pink fills her cheeks once more.

 _"I need to stop thinking about him. He's bad news."_ Sophia thought as she gets up and helps her mom.


	3. Watch What You Say

"You did what?" Merle snaps as he glares down at his son. The boy was getting out of control. Merle didn't care that the boy had no filter and loved to make sexist, racists, and sexual jokes. It's what made him Merle's son. What pissed Merle off was how Hunter got into fights, how he antagonize the people of the group, how he acted like he was a big shot who could do whatever he wanted. He acted like some arrogant son of a bitch, like Merle. Merle had enough problems on his hands that he didn't need to add a mini version of himself to the list. The kid was going to get his ass beaten or worst get a knife to the throat for his actions. "Which one?" Merle snaps.

"What do you mean?" Hunter cocks his head to the side, his bangs falling over his left eye, while his eyes went wide and his lip gave a pout. He looked so damn innocent, cute, and childish that it almost made Merle soften, almost.

"Don't pull that cutesy crap with me. It worked when you were a baby, but you're sixteen years old, Hunter and that crap ain't working anymore." Hunter pouts. "Don't." Merle snaps. "Don't pull the pout." Hunter looks down at his feet, his foot drawing circles in the ground.

"I'm sorry, daddy."

"This kid is the son of devil, there's no doubt about it." Bow says, causing Daryl to chuckle.

"Shut up!" Merle snaps at his brothers before glaring down at his brother.

"I didn't mean to get you mad, daddy." As if to make it worst, Hunter forces tears to come to his eyes as he looks up at Merle, pulling all the stops. Merle glare softens as he sees the look, it almost makes his heartbreak.

"Goddamn it!" Merle snaps before sitting down with a huff. "Start from the beginning. What did you do?" Hunter grins and sits down across from him, any sign of tears and guilt gone.

"It was hot and after all that goddamn shit you've been making me do, I wanted a swim. The other kids were swimming." Sounds innocent enough. Merle sighs and nods.

"Okay, fine-"

"So I stripped and went in." Merle's head snaps up.

"What?!"

"I stripped." Hunter shrugs as he runs a hand through his long wet hair.

"Naked?!"

"Well, of course. Did you want me to go in my jeans? That shit shafes."

"What about your boxers?"

"I didn't wear any. You know that shit tickles my balls. I rather let my jeans scrape them, at least then I can get off after a long walk." Hunter grins, causing Merle to groan. "Yeah, like that."

"Hunter, did anyone see you?"

"The other kids were far enough away. I didn't swim near them and they didn't stay in that long."

"Good-"

"But Mouse saw my dick." Merle's eyes widen.

"Who?"

"Mouse." Hunter turns and points to the girl sitting by Carol. Merle couldn't remember her name, but he knew she was shy, a bit timid, and didn't often play with the other kids. "Stripped right down in front of her." Hunter grins as if it was a big achievement. "I think if I waited a bit longer she would have blown me too with the way she staring at my junk." Merle buries his face in his hands with a groan. Why did he have to get that bitch pregnant? Why did he have to have this kid for a son? Never before did Merle worry about this shit. He used to encourage baby Daryl to do the same shit Hunter is doing. Maybe because it didn't come back to him. If Shane knew Merle's son stripped and skinned dipped in front of innocent little Sophia then he'd have all their heads. Not that Merle was afraid of the dickhead, but he rather not be known as worst of a father than everyone already thinks. Plus he didn't feel like dealing with Shane. "What?"

"Kid, how many times do I have to tell you, do as I say-"

"Not as I do, I know." Hunter rolls his eyes. "You know, dad, you're a hypocrite. You're always encouraging Daryl to fuck someone, but the second I do anything of the such you're on my case."

"Because I don't have to deal with it. Daryl is a grown ass man and his mistakes are his mistakes. You're still a kid, which means every mistake you do comes back on me." Hunter frowns. "Don't you get it. I don't care if you run free and are reckless, but I care about you getting into trouble and getting hurt. What if that girl told her father, huh?"

"Then you'll protect me." Merle sighs and reaches over to ruffles Hunter's hair.

"Kid, I won't always be there to protect you. If that man got you alone I'm sure he'd kill you for exposing his daughter to your tiny dick." Hunter shot a glare at his dad.

"Tiny? Bullshit. I ain't tiny and I'll show you." He goes to stand up, but Merle pulls him down.

"Knock that shit off kid. I swear, I thought once you reached five your stripping days were over." Merle huffs. "But you're worst. If I didn't force you to be in clothes I'm sure you'd walk around naked all the time."

"Sure would be cooler." Hunter grins.

"Until your dick got caught on fire from the campfire or cut while you're skinning." Daryl jumps in to say. "Wear your damn clothes."

"Why do I feel like I have two dads?" Hunter huffs.

"Because you do. Didn't you know these suck each other's dicks at night? Cuddle and everything." Daryl throws the squirrel guts at Bow, who dodges with ease.

"What about you, Bow-Lin, busy fucking yourself last night, I swear I think I heard a bone break." Hunter snickers as Bow grows red in the face.

"Shut the fuck up." Bow snaps before looking at Hunter. "And keep your damn clothes on." Hunter rolls his eyes and smirks.

"After I fuck that piece of pussy." He says as he glances over at Sophia, which earns him a slap to the head from Daryl.

"Don't even think about it."

"Why you fucken the mom?"

"Uh oh." Daryl stood up quickly causing the smile to fall from Hunter's face.

"D..Daryl..." Daryl grabs a hold of Hunter, causing him to scream. "No, dad!"

"Told you I would be able to protect you everytime." Merle grins as he watches Daryl carrying the struggling Hunter down the hill. The others watch, some follow, as Daryl reaches the creek.

"Put me down you cock sucking pussy-" The rest of his words are cut off as he is thrown into the creek. His scream rips through the air, causing some to laugh others try to cover it.

"Have fun with wet jeans, bet that feels really good on your dick." Daryl says before turning and heading up the hill. He walks back over to Bow and Merle, who grin.

"Threw him in the creek?" Bow asks.

"Yup."

"Good, the fucker deserves it." Merle says.

"Get the fuck off me! Let me out of here!" The Dixons turn as they hear the screaming of a woman coming from the rv.

"Aw, shit."


	4. We Ain't Them

Merle and Bow walk into the rv to find the girl struggling to break free from the handcuffs, while Shane is only making matters worst. "Hey!" Bow shouts, causing the rv to grow silent. "You were shot and I brought you back here and stitched you up myself. If you pull those damn stitches you're fixing it yourself." The girl glares at Bow, but he can see the fatigue in her eyes.

"We got you some food and water." Merle says as he crouches down in front of her and hands a bowl of the soup Daryl had just finished making them.

"It has meat in it, so it'll give you the much-needed iron. And here's some water. You're severely dehydrated and malnourish along with, you know, having a hole in your belly." Bow says as the woman slowly and hesitantly takes the plate from Merle.

"I'm gonna uncuff you, but you best not try shit, woman." Merle says as Shane steps forward.

"You're gonna uncuff her? We don't this woman. She could be dangerous." Merle raises an eyebrow.

"You're worried about a tiny woman? Don't worry, officer dick lips, we can handle it. Why don't you go back to hiding in your tent jerking off." Shane snarls, but Bow steps in before he can get to Merle, towering over the officer.

"Back the fuck down, Shane before you hurt yourself." Bow's words are quiet but deadly. Shane glares but does listen and head out.

"If that cock sucker tries that shit again, I'm gutting the fucker." Bow rolls his eyes and motions to the girl.

"Just uncuff her, Merle." Merle huffs before doing as told and uncuffing her. "The name's Bow, this is my brother, Merle. You got a name, sweetheart?"

"Alex."

"Nice to meet ya, now how about you tell us how you got shot and by who."

* * *

Alex swallows as she looks around at the men. They seemed dangerous. The one who found her in the woods seemed even taller and bigger than she remembers. The man beside him was short but just as large with muscles. You can tell both were brothers though because they both have the same intense blue eyes. The man, Bow, he had short crewcut hair and today he's dressed in another pair of jeans and a muscle shirt, this one is a dark green, and he has the same boots on. The other man, Merle, he had on a very thin and a bit wore out black muscle shirt with a black leather vest over it, a pair of jeans, and his own deadly boots.

Alex didn't know if she could trust these men, but Bow did say he stitched her up, which meant he saved her life. If they wanted to kill her they wouldn't have saved her, although, they could still hurt her. "I don't... I don't normally stay in groups." She tells them.

"What happened?" Merle asks as he sits across from her against the cabinets.

"They seemed nice enough. Offered me some food and rest for the night and I was starving." Merle foot hits her knee.

"Then eat." Merle says. "We can wait." Alex just sat there, causing Merle to sigh and motions for her hand to continue.

"They drugged the food."

"Well, we didn't." Merle says before grabbing the bowl and taking a sip of it. "See?" Alex frowns as he hands her back the bowl. She hesitantly lifts the spoon and takes a sip. Merle rolls his eyes. "What are you having brunch with the queen? You're starving so dig in." Alex rolls her eyes before bringing the bowl to her lips and taking gulps of the stewy broth.

"What happened next?" Bow asks once she puts the bowl down.

"They must have underestimated the dosage because I woke up just as they were..." Merle shifts in his spot.

"Just as they were what?"

"Taking my shoes off." Merle and Bow exchange a look.

"They were gonna rape ya?" Merle asks, causing Alex to nod as she stares down at the ground. "We ain't gonna go and do that." Merle informs her. "We ain't like that."

"I'm sure."

"We got kids and women here." Bow jumps into say. "We ain't like that, darling."

"What happened after?" Merle asks.

"I kicked one of them in the face, stabbed another in the throat and took off running. One of the men fired his gun, got me, but I kept running. I didn't stop until..."

"Until you dropped." Bow said, causing her to nod.

"Yeah. How long have I been out?"

"About a day." Merle eyes Alex over. Whereas she got uncomfortable when the group of men did that Alex didn't see Merle checking her out, but checking her over. "You hurt anywhere else?" Alex shakes her head and pulls her knee up to her chest.

"No."

"You need to keep eating. You're weak and you're gonna need to build that strength back up. The old man was nice enough to let you have the bed until you finished healing."

"How long will that be?"

"Could be days, could be weeks. Depends on if you take care of yourself. Do you hurt? Might have some pills around."

"I'll be okay. I've had worst." This gets a raised eyebrow from both brothers. "Let's just say this isn't my first time running into bad men."

"Well, we ain't that kind of bad." Merle winks, causing her to roll her eyes.

"I'm sure." She says dryly.

"Eat." Merle orders as he bumps her knee again. She picks up her fork and begins to pick up the meat and eat it.

"What kind of meat is this?" She asks.

"Dick meat." Bow gives Merle a look, but much to their surprise Alex laughs.

"Yum." She says with a smile, causing Merle to grin.

"I like her. Let's keep her." Bow snorts at Merle before motioning to the cup.

"Drink too." She nods and takes gulps of the water.

"Easy. If you eat or drink too fast it'll upset your belly and you'll just vomit it back up." She nods and takes slower and smaller sips. "Good."

"So, you said you had women and children. How many?"

"Hmm..." Merle says. "You got pterodactyl, rapist bitch, rapist bitch's hot sister, Mouse, the nosey bitch, the taco bender's wife... that'd be about six women."

"You sure like nicknames." Merle grins.

"Oh darling, I got plenty." Alex smiles and leans back.

"So what's their real names?"

"Uh..." Bow snorts.

"Lori, Amy, Andrea, Carol, Jacquie, And I think Miranda is the other."

"He pays attention to that shit." Merle waves off his brother.

"And kids?"

"Merle's son, Hunter, Carol's daughter, Sophia, Miranda's twins, Eliza and Louis, and Lori's son, Carl. There's five. They're all sixteen except for Eliza and Louis they're fourteen."

"Okay."

"Then for the men you have us, our baby brother, Daryl, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, Dale, Jim, Ed, and taco bender, never got his name. You don't have to remember any of the names either?"

"Well, don't worry I'll at least remember the guy who saved me and the guy who's been staring at my breast for the past ten minutes." Merle grins at Alex and gives her a wink.

"Once you're feeling better why don't you and I go bump some uglies."

"Merle-"

"I would, but I think you'd be too small to fill me."

"Why you stretched?"

"No, but your micro."

"I'll show you micro." When Merle goes for his belt, Bow hits him in the back of the head.

"And you wonder where Hunter gets it from. Just stop being a disgusting pig and go make sure that boy isn't out there flashing people again." Merle grins and walks off as Bow shakes his head. "I swear Merle is just as bad as his son."


	5. Internal Wounds

AN: Sorry I've been away for so long, but I'm finally back. It took me awhile to write this chapter, so tell me what you think.

* * *

Hunter moves as quietly as he could, which was not easy when it came to sharing a tent with his father, while his uncles had another tent close by. They were all trained hunters and any little noise could easily wake them. Hunter is just nearing the opening of the tent when he heard movement behind him. "Hunt? We're you going?"

"Shit." Hunter sighs before turning to look at his father.

"Hunter?" His dad gave him a look as if sits up. "What are you up to?"

"I have to piss. Is that so wrong?" Hunter asks.

"You have to piss?"

"Yes, my balls aching and I have to piss. So can I please go take a piss or do you want me to just sit here and hold it?" Merle rolls his eyes.

"Go."

"Thank god." Hunter groans before scrambling out. He slips his boots on, tying them up, and making his way down the path. He didn't want to piss nearby the tents. He had his limits. He may be okay with stripping, but he wasn't disgusting enough to piss out in the open.

Hunter moves into the tree, far enough away from the tents with the river nearby. Hunter sighs in relief as he pisses. Hunter had been so warm in his bed and so comfortable. He didn't want to leave his bed, but if he held it any longer… Hunter shivers as the cold bit at him. It wasn't freezing, but Hunter was always cold after waking up. His body needs to get accustomed to the new temperatures outside the safe haven of his bed.

As Hunter zips his pants back up he can hear the sound of something hitting the water. He curses himself for leaving his weapons behind, but he continues down the path towards the river, being careful to make as little noise as possible. As he rounds the bend he sees Sophia throwing rocks into the river. Hunter grins as he starts for her. Sophia was his type. Timid, quiet, innocent. Hunter licks his lips as his eyes roam her figure. For once she isn't in baggy clothes, but instead, she had on a pair of short shorts and an oversized t-shirt. The t-shirt was still big and baggy, but it gave her a more sexy look versus a trash bag look.

Hunter watches as Sophia skips the stones across the water. "You're pretty good at that." Hunter speaks up as he watches the stone skip ten times before sinking. Sophia lets out a soft gasp, the stone in her hand falling to the ground as she spins around. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you, darling. Aren't you cold?" He asks as he looks at her bare arms. The t-shirt's sleeves were short and her legs were practically bare.

"No. It's nice out." Sophia whispers. "I like the slight chill." Hunter moves towards her and hears her breath catch as he stands right in front of her. He stares into her eyes for a moment before bending down and picking up a stone. He stands up, rolling the smooth flat stone in the palm of his hands.

"I never really skipped stones. Hunting is my family's thing."

"My mom and I used to skip stones a lot."

"Used to?" Hunter asks as he tosses the stone, it only skips twice before sinking.

"You need to hold it right." Hunter raises an eyebrow. "I… Here." Sophia moves towards him, taking his hand, and positioning his stone correctly between his fingers. "And you need to flick your wrist." She moves closer. "Like this." She moves his hand back and forth to demonstrate. Sophia lifts her eyes to see Hunter staring right at her. She blushes and takes a step back. "N-Now try." She stuttered embarrassingly. Hunter looks at her for a moment longer before turning back to the water and flicking the stone the way she showed him. It managed to do three skips before sinking. "Not bad. Just takes a bit of practice and a keen eye to find the perfect stone and to skip it."

"You're pretty good at this." He says as she skips another stone.

"I have years of practice." Hunter smiles as he watches her. She seems more relaxed than she did earlier. That's what hunting did for him. It seems he stumbled upon her hobby.

"So, why are you up this late anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep. What about you?" Hunter tosses another stone.

"Had to piss." A blush comes over Sophia's face, causing Hunter to raise an eyebrow before noticing her staring at him. He grins. "Thinking about my dick?" Sophia's eyes widen as her face turns red. "Wouldn't be the first time a girl thought about my cock."

"You… You are unbelievable." Hunter's grin grows into a real smile.

"Well, I mean-"

"That isn't a compliment." Sophia cuts in. "You are absolutely disgusting." Hunter's smile falters as Sophia turns and starts back up the hill.

"Aw shit." Hunter sighs, dropping the stones, and hurrying after her. "Mouse, wait up." He grabs her arm, causing her to spin to face him. "I was just messing with you. You need to learn what a joke is." Sophia's eyes narrowed as she stared at him, an angry frown coming onto her face.

"Right because it's fun to make fun of little innocent Sophia."

"I think you're overreacting. I was just joking."

"See that's your problem. All you ever do is joke, fuck the consequences, you need to grow up." Sophia glares before ripping her arm out of his grip.

"Sophia, I-" She didn't let him finish. She took off up the hill, not bothering to spare him another glance. Hunter watches her go, he felt colder than he did before. He also felt… hurt? Hunter never felt that before.

He swallows the lump forming in his throat. He didn't know how long he stood there in the cold dark night, but finally, he moved and started back. He didn't know why Sophia got so mad, he had only been kidding, but was worst was what she said to him. It wasn't a lie. He never did think about the consequences. He only ever did what he wanted and never really thought about what anyone else would think.

When Hunter climbed back in he saw his dad was waiting. "How long does it take to piss?"

"Sorry." Hunter mumbles, kicking his boots off and climbing into his bed without another word. He could feel his father's eyes on him, but he forced himself to close his eyes and try to go back to sleep.

Carol winces as she exits the tent. Her entire body hurts. She doesn't know what got Ed mad this time, but he sure did some damage. When she was getting dressed her entire stomach was black and blue, while her legs are still shaky from his other punishment. She had cried plenty of times from the abuse, but she has no more tears to shed. She just feels empty. Broken.

"Mom, are you okay?" Sophia whispers, her eyes filled with worry and fear.

"Yeah, honey, I'm okay." Carol forces a smile as she kisses her daughter's forehead before heading towards the other girls to help make breakfast.

"Morning, Carol." Andrea smiles. Andrea has grown to be a very good friend to Carol. The others look at her with pity and judgment, but Andrea just looks at with kindness and a strength that gives Carol strength.

"Morning, Andrea." Carol smiles as she sits down. She has learned to hide the pain and the bruises, but the other treatment isn't something that Carol can easily hide. She takes in a sharp breath as she sits down on the seat by the fireplace.

"Carol?" Once more there is no pity in Andrea's eyes, but instead burning anger and hatred that Carol knows is directed to Ed.

"I'm okay." Andrea looks at her for a moment longer before changing the subject.

"So…. Hunter has been oddly helpful this morning." Carol glances at Andrea with confusion. "He was up pretty early this morning. He chopped wood for the fire, cleaned the guns, went hunting and got us all kind of meat, and even filled up the barrels down by the river."

"Wow, I don't think I ever seen him do that much work before." Carol says.

"I know, it's crazy. And get this he's been so quiet. He hasn't even made some filthy joke or complains once. He even went mushroom hunting with Amy. You know how much he hates that."

"I wonder if he's okay." Carol says as she looks over at the boy in question. He was sitting under a tree, sharpening his hunting knife, and looking as if he is in a totally different universe. Carol's not sure if he's even aware of what's going around him, which is the most shocking because the Dixons notice everything.

"I don't know. Merle's not up yet, but I'm sure he'll figure it out." Carol frowns.

"Um… Do you need some help?" Carol looks away from Hunter to see the girl that Bow brought in.

"Shouldn't you be resting. Bow won't be happy if he knows you're not in bed." Andrea says.

"I've been staring at the ceiling for hours. If I don't do something I'll go stir crazy."

"We can always use an extra hand." Carol smiles.

"I'm Andrea and this is Carol."

"Alex." She says as she takes a seat. "What are we making?"

"We don't have much. We're in need of supplies." Andrea says. "So we're making stew for breakfast." Andrea sighs, obviously wishing for a normal breakfast.

"I'm sure the guys will eat it regardless. We're all hungry. We don't have room to be picky." Carol nods in agreement with Alex's words.

"That's true."

"Carol can make anything good, so we don't have to worry about it not being good. I just wish we had eggs. I miss eggs." Andrea sighs.

"Too bad we don't have chickens here." Alex adds.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Alex huffs, the girls turn half expecting Bow, but it's Merle instead.

"Relax, Merle. She's fine." Andrea waves off. "Besides she's sitting. She's not doing any heavy lifting. Some sunlight and fresh air will do her good."

"Is Hunter okay?" Carol asks. "He's been unusually quiet." Merle glances over at Hunter and Carol can see a worried look come into his eyes, but it's gone once he faced them again.

"Yeah, he's just in a mood." Merle rolls his eyes. "Fucken teenagers." He huffs before heading off to work.


	6. What I Feel, Help Me Deal

Andrea liked the new girl. She had fire. There weren't too many people that can put up with Merle Dixon, but Alex held her own. Whatever Merle fired at her she fired back. It was actually quite amusing to watch the two go back and forth. It was like an intense tennis game. It helped the day go by faster.

Andrea wishes she could get out of doing all the female work. She hated how sexist the camp could be. Dividing work based on gender. She wanted to defend this camp alongside the men. That is what she was good at. She didn't want to wash laundry and cook all day. She can't even cook! Andrea sometimes hated being a woman. Even with the world ended men are still looking down at women and underestimating them. It grates on Andrea's nerves. She worked as a lawyer before all this and so she was used to working in a field that had powerful alpha males in charge. She had to fight tooth and nail to get where she was and now the world was over and she's still fighting.

"Frown anymore and you'll forget how to smile." Andrea turns and sees Bow leaning against the boulder beside her, sharpening his rather large and intense looking knife.

"What's it to you if I never smile?" Bow looks up at her, those intense blue eyes locking onto her. She had never seen eyes as that color before meeting him and his brothers. They were a unique blue. They grow darker the further out they go. The center was practically nothing more than a white ring around the pupil, while the outer ring was nearly black. She loved those eyes. They never ceased to amaze her and leave her absolutely speechless. Did they even realize just how powerful their eyes were? Did they know the affect that those eyes have on not just Andrea, but all the woman in the camp. Hell, Andrea even noticed Lori staring at those eyes from time to time.

"A smile lights up people's faces. The world's dark enough. We don't need the moods of the survivors to be too." Bow says, cutting through Andrea's thoughts. Bow has never been much like his brothers. Sure, he was just as rough as them at times, but he was a lot more educated than them. He was a military doctor in the war. He went and got his doctorate in medicine. He was also a lot more outgoing than his brothers. More social. Most would think he was the older brother, but Merle was still a couple of years older, not that one could tell. Bow and Merle were basically twins. They both kept their hair very short and they both had the big burly frame, while Daryl was more lean and willowy than them. He also didn't have as rough of a face as them. He was softer, baby faced compared to them. It's why one could never mistake Bow and Merle being brothers.

"How's Alex?" Andrea asks, blowing her blonde hair away from her face.

"Doing fine. Shouldn't be up and movin', but overall, she's doing better than I thought she would." Andrea nods, pursing her lips in thought.

"Has she said anything about what happened?"

"Said she was with a group." Bow slides his knife back into its sheath. "They offered her food and water and a place to sleep. They drugged the food and tried to rape her. Guess it wasn't high enough dosage because she woke up when they got her shoes off."

"Oh god." Andrea says, feeling sick to her stomach at the idea of men drugging and raping women. With no law meant that sick people like that were running freely and doing whatever their sick minds wanted.

"She kicked one in the face and slashed another's throat." Bow tells Andrea, causing her to nod.

"Good. He deserved it." Bow smirks, eyeing Andrea over. Feeling his eyes on her made her feel tingly and warm all over. Her heart fluttered as Bow's blue eyes connected with hers once more.

"What'd you do before the world went to shit?"

"I was a lawyer." Andrea tells him, moving to stand beside him, leaning on the boulder and looking out at the lake. "But I took a break from work to travel with my sister. Amy's a lot younger than me, so I wasn't around much when she was growing up. I was trying to make up for it. I was taking her on road trip for her birthday when all this happened." Andrea sighs, running a hand through her hair and pulling it back up into a ponytail. Her and Amy looked a lot different. Amy was softer looking and sweeter. Andrea was always a bit jealous of Amy. She got their mother's looks, while Andrea was stuck with their father's. Andrea's hair was a lot coarser and dull compared to Amy's silky shiny blonde hair. Amy also had prettier blue eyes. Hers looked like an ocean, while Andrea's looked more like a blue-gray. Andrea always felt so old and dull beside her beautiful young sister.

She hated herself for thinking this at the end of the world. She's lucky to be alive. She's lucky to have her sister alive, but the thoughts always popped in. Andrea came at a bad time for her parents. They were only eighteen, fresh out of high school and trying to go to college. They didn't have the money to raise a child, so most of Andrea's life was spent with hand-me-downs and cheap frozen food. Her parents worked their asses off to raise her and finish school. Andrea will always love them for how hard they worked for her, but at the end of the day that's all they'll remember with raising Andrea. It was hard and most days they wanted nothing more than to collapse from exhaustion. That's what they remember about her childhood. By the time Amy was born their father had became the boss of his law firm, their mother had become the principle at the local high school, and they had more than enough money to survive. Having Amy was easy. They had time to both raise her and love her. They didn't need to work their lives away or stress about how they were going to pay their next bill. When they think about Amy's childhood they have years upon years of happy memories. The only time Andrea really had with her parents were the weekends that her father didn't work and would take her out on the boat, but even then those memories were clouded over by stress and worries.

The world ended and yet Andrea still couldn't help but feel a bit resentful towards Amy. She loved her sister to death, but Amy has always had everything that Andrea wished she had. It's what truly made them different. Amy will always be the softer and more gentle of the two because she never had to fight for what she wanted, it was all just given to her.

"You're frowning again." Andrea looks up at Bow, but he was staring out at the water and not at her. "What're you thinking about?"

Andrea didn't want to tell him that she was thinking about how much she wished her life could have been like Amy's. That just sounds pathetic, so instead, she told him something else. "Fishing." She could feel his eyes on her. "My dad used to take me fishing every weekend up until I went to college. It was the only time I got to spend with my dad."

"What about your mom?" Bow asks.

"Oh, she was always busy. I was always closer to my dad, we got along better." Bow hums in response.

"It's a nice day." Bow says, looking up at the cloudless skies. "Hot. Probably a good day to fish." Andrea looks over at him. "Fishing could be good for the group. Eventually, the deer are going to start thinning. Won't be much left to hunt. We'll have to go away to get any meat. Fishing is a good alternative. Plus, we're running low on food. Daryl's going out with Hunter soon, but he won't probably bring anything back for a couple of days."

"Do you think Dale has any poles?" Andrea asks, causing Bow to shrug.

"Worth asking." Bow glances over at her. "I know you hate doing all the women shit, but you don't much know anything else, do you?"

"I can learn." Bow smirks.

"I'm sure you could, but if you want to help, why don't you start doing something you good at. I've seen you with that gun of yours, do you even know how to shoot it?"

"Point and shoot. It's simple." Bow chuckles.

"Yeah, that's the basics, but there's more than just pointing and shooting when it comes to guns."

"Well, it's not like Shane will let us do any target practicing. He's so worried about the noise that we all could make that when someone starts sneezing he shushes them." Bow lets out a bark of a laugh, causing Andrea to smile. She loved listening to him laugh. It was always so deep and rough. She also loved watching him laugh. His whole face lights up and he looks younger.

"Shit, sweetheart." He chuckles, the nickname sending a shiver through Andrea. "If you want to learn to shoot you don't need the good deputy's permission. I'll show you myself. Don't worry about the noise, we could do things without actually firing the gun."

"Really? You'd do that?" Bow smiles as he eyes her over.

"There are very few people here that can shoot. It's something that I think we all should learn. Not just that, but basic self-defense too. It's not just walkers out there killing people."

"I think learning all that is a good idea." Andrea agrees.

"We'll start with you then. I can show you how to clean that gun of yours and take it apart and reassemble it. You shouldn't everything you need to know about a gun before learning how to fire it." Andrea nods.

"Okay." She says. "Thank you." Bow shrugs her off and looks out at the water. "I'll show you first thing tomorrow. Once you learn all you need to on your gun than firing it is nothing as long as you can aim worth a shit."

"I'm sure I can manage." Bow just grins in response. "Could you show me self-defense too?"

"Darling, I can show you anything you want." Andrea's breath caught in her throat as Bow turns to her. His blue eyes once more on hers.

"I'd like that." She says, her voice breathy and quiet. Bow licked his lips, his eyes burning into hers.

"We'll start tomorrow." He pushes off the boulder and backs up to give them so space. "See Dale about those rods. Fish sounds just about right tonight." Andrea nods shakily as Bow turns around and starts back up the hill. Her eyes fall on his ass, she bites her lip as she stares at it. He has a nice ass.

* * *

Sophia bites her lip, trying to keep her cries quiet as she carefully removes her shirt. She had changed it three times today, but it's still not enough. She's bleeding like a stuffed pig. She was glad her mother hasn't noticed yet. Sophia has been cleaning her clothes herself since it started. Carol had always taken the beatings from Ed, but lately things have changed. Ed has started noticing Sophia a lot more lately and whenever Carol wasn't around he went after Sophia. Her back was more scars than flesh at the moment. He had taken his belt repeatedly to her after the stunt Hunter pulled yesterday. Her mom had also suffered the consequences of Hunter's actions. The thought made Sophia angry. She knew Hunter had no idea what his actions causes, but still, she still wasn't happy with him. She couldn't be too angry though, it wasn't him beating her.

Sophia lets out a shaky breath when she finally pulled her shirt away from her skin. She let the shirt fall to the ground with a rather wet flop from the amount of blood that coated it. It was going to be a bitch to clean. Sophia was almost tempted to just bury it and forget it, but she liked that shirt. It was the one her mom got for her birthday. It was the only one that fits right on her. It was a baby blue v-neck with a little pocket on the front. It was made of the softest cotton and it was good on hot days because it kept her surprisingly cool. Now, it was more red than blue.

Sophia shakily untied her sneakers, her fingers were shaking so bad that it was very hard to untie them. It was from the pain. Ed's belt dug into her skin at least an inch deep. She probably needed stitches, but she wasn't about to ask for them. The last thing she needed was for this to get out.

Sophia kicked off her shoes and sneakers and started working on her jeans. She has gotten lucky so far. All Ed's been doing is beating her, but she knows he's working up to worse. She has seen the way he looked at her. He looked at in a way that no father should look at his daughter. It's why Ed's beating was so much worse this time. He saw her with Hunter. He saw how she looked at Hunter and how Hunter looked at her. Ed didn't like people looking at what he considered his. The thought sent a wave of nausea through her. If Carol knew what Ed was doing and what he was thinking then she would... Sophia wasn't sure what her mom would do. She couldn't very well do anything to Ed, if she could she would have done it by now.

Sophia slips off her jeans, leaving her in just her bra and underwear. She needed to clean her back, but she couldn't do that on her own, so she just had to depend on letting the water in the lake wash her clean. She slipped into the cold water and went under. She was good at holding her breath. She had made sure to get good at it. Ed had think about choking women or drowning them. Sophia wanted to make sure that she could hold her breath for awhile in case Ed got any ideas. She could hold her breath for a solid eleven minutes, which was incredible in her mind.

She stayed down for all those minutes before coming back up panting for air. She could only hope that the water did its job and washed her blood off. She couldn't exactly reach to rub it off. Sophia dried off with the towel she brought and changed into the fresh clothes she brought. She was lucky to have gotten dressed when she did because as soon as she got her shirt on she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly covered her blooded shirt with her dirty jeans. She sat down on the bank to look as if she wasn't doing anything questionable, and slipped her socks and shoes on.

She looked up when those footsteps stopped and she saw Hunter standing there. He was watching her cautiously as if he wasn't sure if he should even come near her. She noticed him all day staying far away from her. He also did a lot of work too. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings, well she did mean it a little, but she didn't think he'd take it so badly. So many people were saying the same things to him as she did, so why did her words cause him to change.

"You can join if you want." Sophia says quietly, standing up and grabbing her clothes. "I was just leaving."

"Sophia..." She looks up at Hunter, her dark green eyes piercing into his blue ones. "I'm sorry." He finally says after a long moment of silence. Sophia never heard a Dixon say those two words before. She almost thought they didn't know the word 'sorry'. It was probably the only time he'll say it too, so she shouldn't take advantage.

"It wasn't your fault." She told him. "I just wasn't in a good mood and I took it out on you. I'm sorry." Hunter shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable. He probably never had a real talk with a girl before.

"You were right." Hunter shrugs. "I'm an asshole." He gives her a sheepish grin. It was hard for her to not smile back. His smile is just contagious.

"At least you admit it." Hunter barks out a laugh and nods.

"Yeah, yeah." He smiles at her, all teeth and dimples. It made that heat come back over her. The tingling sensation started in between her legs once more. Hunter's smile faltered and tension began to form between them. Hunter slowly moved closer to her as if approaching a wounded animal. "I am sorry, Sophia." He whispers once he was standing right in front of her. "I really was just joking. I didn't mean to upset you." He lifted his hand and brushed her dark auburn hair off her shoulder. With the sun shining down on it, it really brought out the red in it.

"You didn't." She whispers back. "Like I said, I overreacted, I was just upset about something else." Hunter brushes his thumb against her cheek, causing her to gasp. His blue eyes stared into her green ones, freezing her in her spot. He slowly began to lean down, his nose bumped hers as their lips brushed. Sophia closed her eyes, giving into Hunter. Hunter's hand cupped her face and drew her more into him. His lips touched hers for just the briefest of seconds before a voice breaks them apart.

"Sophia." She jumps away from Hunter as if she was burned, her eyes flashing past him and to Ed that was standing a few yards away, watching them with anger burning in his brown eyes. She was in trouble. "Get over here now."

"Sophia-" She moved past Hunter or tried to. "Sophia, wait..." It happened in slow motion. He grabbed her arm to stop her from simply walking past him, which caused her clothes to go tumbling out of her hands and hit the ground. Hunter's eyes fell on the clothes seeing the blood that stained her shirt. Their eyes met and all hell broke loose.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long delay on updating. I am officially back and ready to continue this story. This chapter went from okay, to kind of deep, to a bit dark, and then to oh fuck no. The next chapter is going to be even more intense, so watch out and be ready. I hoped you enjoyed this one. I gave a little bit more insight on Andrea's background and her feelings on everything that is going on. I also gave you a bit of insight on what's going on behind closed doors or in this case zipped tents.


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